A MAN admitted treating two dogs so badly that one died while in his care and the other later had to be put down.

Gary Trevor, 52, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to Rottweilers Star and Onyx at his flat at Canford Avenue in Bournemouth where an RSPCA inspector found the animals in September last year.

Prosecutor Matthew Knight told Bournemouth magistrates on Thursday (JAN 19) that when the inspector arrived Onyx was dead while Star was “extremely unwell” and it was clear both were emaciated.

The inspector had found the animals to be “filthy, dirty and very smelly”, Mr Knight said, adding that they had been allowed to defecate and urinate inside the premises.

“Star was a pitiful sight, barely able to stand,” he said. “She was all skin and bones and her skeleton was easily visible.”

Star was suffering from incontinence and had signs of infection in both eyes, the court heard. Both dogs were seized during the inspection and Star was handed over to a local vet who said she ate “ravenously” when first given some food.

Star was put down some weeks after being seized despite having put some weight on while being cared for, the court was told.Onyx was found to have had a tumour in his leg which would have caused him serious pain. He had also suffered severe muscle wastage and had a poor body mass.

Both dogs were believed to be around half the weight they were two-and-a-half years before. Star weighed just 22kg when she arrived at the vets but Trevor had said she had been even skinnier at one point during the neglect that had gone on possibly for several months, the court heard.

Neither of the dogs were ever walked regularly and it is believed that both were severely malnourished.

“He accepts he did not tend to the dogs’ needs,” Mr Knight said. “The dogs were ill, hungry and neglected.

“There are a number of charities that could have helped to rehome these dogs.”

Mitigating, Megan McGhee told the court Trevor claimed to be suffering from mental health problems and may have a personality disorder.

“This man was living in these conditions,” she said. “There seems to be some mental health conditions.

“He’s been neglecting himself. The flat was not liveable for dogs let alone humans.”

Trevor is due to be sentenced by magistrates at Poole on February 15.

RSPCA inspector Graham Hammond said: “Shortly before Onyx died, Mr Trevor’s neighbour told him that his dogs looked like whippets because they were so thin and still he didn’t seek veterinary help.

“When there is so much help and assistance available, I find these cases particularly sad and hard to deal with.”